KARI (curry) vs. KARI-KARI (curry-like). I still remember a time when my aunts in Magálang called our meat dish with a thick creamy sauce made of ground toasted peanuts, grated turmeric, saffron, pepper, garlic and thickened with toasted rice powder, KARI (curry), while they called the ones cooked by Filipinos as KARI-KARI (curry-like) because she said “é ré túran” (they can’t get it right).

Folklore has it that KARI was once the Kapampángan people’s signature dish. Kapampángan were said to establish the first KARIYAN (carijan) ‘places that cook/serve KARI’ in Manila during the Spanish era to cater to the homesick Kapampángan colonial bureaucrats, soldiers, sailors and students who were working and studying in Intramuros. The KARIYAN, written in the Spanish orthography as “carijan”, later became the ‘carinderias’ we know today. The root of the word “carinderia” is KARI, written as CARI in the Spanish orthography. When Filipinos started putting up their own Carijan, Kapampángans arrogantly called their dish KARI-KARI (curry-like), a poor copy of the Kapampángan KARI.

It was said that when the Port of Yokohama was opened to the world on June 2, 1859, Kapampángan sailors who worked on French and Spanish ships opened up their own KARIYAN for their fellow Kapampángan sailors who regularly made their way to Japan. KARIYAN was written in Kanji as 咖喱飯 (KA-RI-HAN), where 咖喱 (kari) meant “curry” and 飯 (han) meant “rice”. (Now wondering if our KARI was not the ancestor of the popular Japanese dish カレーライス “curry rice” and not something introduced by the British as the official history tells it.)

When Filipino (Tagalog) became the dominant language, many Kapampángan “carinderia” began renaming their dish in Tagalog. They started calling our KALÁME as “kakanin”, our PINDANG as “tocino”, our TIDTAD as “dinuguan”, our TIBUKTÍBUK as “maja blanca” and our KARI as “kare-kare”. Many young Kapampángans are growing up not knowing the original name of their mother’s dish.

]]>http://siuala.com/kari-curry-versus-kari-kari-curry-like/feed/0History of SÍSIG: How Angeles City Kept Reinventing a Traditional Kapampángan Delicacyhttp://siuala.com/sisig/
http://siuala.com/sisig/#respondThu, 22 Sep 2016 03:18:54 +0000http://siuala.com/?p=1170… Continue Reading →]]>
SÍSIG has always been a part of Kapampángan culinary history. It may have been as old as the history of the Kapampángan nation itself. In 1732, Spanish friar Diego Bergaño recorded the existence of SÍSIG in his Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga. At that time, SÍSIG was a kind of salad with a spicy vinegar dressing or any sour snack that included unripe mangoes or guavas. Hence the term MÁNYÍSIG ‘to snack on something sour.’ It was a delicacy once reserved for expectant mothers. It has always been difficult for pregnant women to keep down much needed nourishment in the first trimester of their pregnancy. SÍSIG, being sour, was believed to fight morning sickness and nausea that accompanies pregnancy. SÍSIG BÁBÎ ‘pork sísig’ was originally made of boiled pig’s ears and tail mixed with onions and dressed in spicy vinegar. It was believed that the cartilage in the pig’s ears and tail aid in the bone development of the child in the mother’s womb.

In his 1960 book “Taste and Ways of a Pampango,” Mariano A. Henson of Ángeles listed four SÍSIG dish that he was familiar with: 1) SÍSIG BÁBÎ (pork sísig), 2) SÍSIG PACÛ (fresh fern sísig), 3) SÍSIG PÁRO (shrimp sísig), and 4) SÍSIG TALABA (fresh oyster sísig). However, he also mentions QUILÓ USA (raw deer) that is prepared SÍSÍG style with calamunding juice, sibúyas and lárâng inanis, in his 1964 “Pampanga and Its Towns.”

Sísig Púsûng Ságin (Banana Heart Sísig)

Although SÍSIG was still very much a dish for expectant mothers in many Kapampángan homes until the early 1980s, something happened in Angeles City in the late 1960s that changed the history of SÍSIG forever. It was in Angeles City that SÍSIG was first served as pulútan, the snack that accompanies alcoholic drinks.

According to many old timers, it was in the late 1960s that dancing halls, locally known as cabaret, began appearing on Henson Street. Enterprising ambulant vendors began selling barbecue on wooden carts at night to regular customers. Most of them were concentrated on the vacant lot on Burgos Street that was sandwiched between Henson Street and Rizal Street and near the dancing hall on San Francisco Street in what is now known as Barangay Agapito del Rosario.

People still debate as to which group first served SÍSIG as pulútan, although many point out that it has to be one of the ambulant vendors on Burgos Street. According to the most popular story, two young men were bragging that they left their pregnant wives at home so that they can have a good time drinking and going to dancing halls like teenagers. One of the vendors, a woman, sympathized with the poor wives left at home and so decided to prick the young men’s conscience without offending them. She served them SÍSIG. Being newly wed, the young men were not familiar with the dish or its cultural significance. They thought it was a new kind of pulútan. They liked it and ordered some more. That is how SÍSIG became a popular dish at Burgos Street among the regulars even if it was not on the menu.

At that time, the ambulant vendors at Burgos Street made SÍSIG by simply mixing in whatever they had on the grill. Usually it was BALUGBUG BÁBÎ ‘pig’s ears,’ BALUNBALÚNAN ‘chicken gizzard,’ PÚSÛ ‘chicken heart,’ PALDÉWUT ‘chicken tail’ and ATÉ MANUK ‘chicken liver.’ The regulars called these “spare parts,” hence “bárbekyung spare parts.” The vendors grilled these “spare parts” and then sliced them and mixed them with onions, red chilli peppers, black pepper, salt and souring it with KALAMUNDING juice. The vendors called it SÍSIG BÁRBEKYÛ while the regulars jokingly called it SÍSIG SPARE PARTS. Most people simply called it SÍSIG. Later, the vendors there called it SÍSIG MATUA ‘old style sísig’ when the new form that was made up of chopped grilled pig’s cheeks and onions became more popular.

It was said that a huge fire broke out at the railroad crossing when a train collided with a North bound passenger bus in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The houses by the railroad on Galicano Valdez Street perpendicular to Henson Street were razed to the ground. When the debris was cleared, stalls were built and rented out. These became drinking places that sold barbecue as pulútan. The area was simply called Crossing, after the railroad crossing at its corner.

Bápang Kadók (Ricardo Dinio) of Barangay Agapito del Rosario was said to be the first to serve SÍSIG at Crossing. He was the owner of the first stall and rented out electricity to the other stalls since he alone had a contador ‘electric meter’ among all the stalls there at that time. According to the story, Bápang Kadók’s regular customers were the livestock dealers from Pangasinan and Ilocos who, after selling all their merchandise in Manila, often stopped over at Angeles to have a good time before heading back to their provinces in the North. They were said to always complain that the only pulútan available in Angeles is BÁBÎ ‘pork.’ They missed their kilawên or raw goat meat in spicy vinegar, which they believed was an aphrodisiac. Bápang Kadók convinced them that he has a pork dish that would make them forget their kilawên. He served them SÍSIG BÁBÎ, which in his version was made of crunchy BALUGBUG BÁBÎ ‘pig’s ears’ which he grilled and chopped, ATÉ MANUK ‘chicken liver’ likewise grilled and chopped, chopped shallots, red chili peppers, black pepper, salt, KALAMUNDING juice and a shot of ginebra. It became a hit with the Ilocano and Pangasinan merchants. Soon, even insurance agents from Manila were asking for Bápang Kadók’s SÍSIG BÁBÎ or simply SÍSIG. It was only sometime that the curious locals began to wonder why Bápang Kadók’s stall was always full and discovered his SÍSIG. Unfortunately, Bápang Kadók met an untimely death in the mid-1970s. It was Aling Lucing (Lucia Lagman Cunanan) in the next stall that absorbed Bápang Kadók’s existing clientele with her own version of SÍSIG.

With Aling Lucing, SÍSIG would again undergo a transformation in Angeles City in the mid-1970s. Instead of the usual BALUGBUG BÁBÎ ‘pig’s ears,’ Aling Lucing decided to use the meatier BALÍNGIT BÁBÎ ‘pig’s cheeks’ and therefore create more servings and quickly meet the rising demand for the dish. At that time, SÍSIG was simply served in saucers. According to their story, Aling Lucy would obtain for free the discarded pig’s head at the abattoir in the former US Airforce Base at Clark. She would grill the pig’s cheeks, chopped them, add grilled chicken liver which she then crushed, add chopped onions which is milder than shallots and mix all of these in KALAMUNDING juice, salt and pepper. By the late 1970s, Aling Lucing’s version of SÍSIG would become the only version known to most Angeleños.

SÍSIG would once again be reinvented and undergo its final cultural transformation in Angeles City in the late 1970s. It was Benedicto Pámintuan, the brother of the current mayor Edgardo Pámintuan, who first thought of serving SÍSIG as a family dish instead of just as a pulútan. Using the SÍSIG version popularized by Aling Lucing, which is primarily made of BALÍNGIT BÁBÎ ‘pig’s cheeks’ instead of BALUGBUG BÁBÎ ‘pig’s ears,’ Pámintuan decided to serve this for the first time on a sizzling plate that he borrowed from his mom’s restaurant in Manila. He called this sizzling version, SÍSIG BENEDICT. He first served this at his restaurant at the Sugay’s residence on Lakandúlâ Street. Later he moved his restaurant on Miranda Street to where the Imerex Hotel now stands. Benedicto’s mom, Lilia D. Pámintuan, introduced this sizzling version of SÍSIG at her restaurant in Sta. Mesa, Manila in 1980. At the same time, Dan Táyag, another Angeleño, also began serving SIZZLING SÍSIG at the Trellis Restaurant in Diliman, Quezon City. When Camalig Restaurant along Santo Rosario Street first opened its doors to the public in 1980, SÍSIG served on a sizzling plate was also on the menu.

Not to be outdone, Aling Lucing also began serving her SÍSIG on a sizzling plate at her place in Crossing and simply called it SIZZLING SÍSIG. Being strategically placed at the crossroads of many travellers coming to and from Angeles City, Aling Lucing’s SIZZLING SÍSIG became popularly known even outside the city. Rumor has it that Bongbong Marcos, if not President Marcos himself, was her patron. Legend has it that she would be whisked to the presidential palace in Malacañang where she would cook SÍSIG exclusively for Marcos’ guests. Aling Lucing undoubtedly became one of Angeles City’s icons because of her SIZZLING SÍSIG. Catering to a wide range of clientele for more than two decades, Aling Lucing outshone and outlasted many of her local competitors and became the undisputed “Sisig Queen.” Yet throughout her “reign” the ambulant barbecue vendors at Burgos continued to sell their off-the-menu SÍSIG MATUA made of pig’s ears and “spare parts” side by side with the new style SIZZLING SÍSIG until the late 1990s. Mila’s Tokwa’t Baboy which began in 1989 in Barangay Santo Domingo also continue to serve the old style “original” SÍSIG, which in their version is simply sliced boiled BALUGBUG BÁBÎ ‘pig’s ears’ in spicy vinegar and their own version of SIZZLING SÍSIG which is made of deep fried and crunchy BUNTUK BÁBÎ ‘pig’s head’ mixed with mild green onions without chicken liver. Although, Ápûng Míla (Milagros Gomez) of Mila’s Tokwa’t Baboy, did not earn the title “Sisig Queen,” she is a rising star in her own right and her two versions of SÍSIG already has a strong fan base that includes a number of famous national celebrities.

Ing ÁRÎ ‘the king.’ The old (and the not so old) Kapampángans believed that there are two ÁRÎ ‘kings’ that rule the heavens: The Sun, i-Árîng ALDÓ a SÍNUKUAN (Ápûng Sínukuan), and the Moon, i-Árîng BÚLAN a MALIÁRI (Ápung Maliári). It is from their sash (Babat Árî) or their loincloth (Pinang Árî) that the rainbows were formed. The light of the universe radiate from their eyes and that of their children (the stars). The light of the Ápûng Maliári (Moon), is less dominant because he lost one of his eyes in a previous battle with his brother, Ápûng Sínukuan (Sun). On Yátu (Earth), Ápûng Sínukuan (Sun) lives on Bunduk Aláya (Mt. Aráyat) while Ápûng Maliári (Moon) lives on Bunduk Pinatúbû (Mt. Pinatubo).

Before day turned into night on that Saturday noon of 1991 June 15, this apparition of Ing ÁRÎ ‘the king’ was seen on the western sky above Angeles. Is this Ápûng Maliári, now Árîng Punsalang ‘the enemy king,’ come back to exact his revenge on his brother Ápûng Sínukuan?!?

Many believed that Ápûng Sínukuan sent his general Ápûng Galúrâ (Garuda), the bringer of typhoons, to protect Indûng Kapampángan from the wrath of Árîng Punsalang.

It is strange how the old stories that have mostly been ignored and almost forgotten all come back to life in times of crisis.

(English) For us Kapampángans, cooking is not a mere hobby. It is an essential part of our identity. It is an expression of who we are as a people. Therefore, it is only natural that we get upset and feel indignant when non-Kapampángans play around with our cuisine ~ our identity, and then proceed to present their mess to the world as ‘Kapampángan’ cuisine.” Patúgut kayu!

It is probably safe to say that the Philippines today is a state whose citizens are confused with their identity, ignorant of their history and unmindful of their heritage. Despite the advancement in archaeology and scholarly research into her pre-colonial past, the average student still learns in class that Philippine history began only with the coming of the Europeans in the early 16th century. This implies that the people of these islands would never have become part of the ‘civilized world’ had it not been ‘discovered’ by Western adventurers, namely by the Portuguese explorer Fernão de Magalhães who ‘discovered’ these islands for Spain in 1521. It is no surprise then why the average citizen of these islands proudly wears the brand of a 16th century foreign monarch in whose name his ancestors were tyrannized and his country raped and plundered for more than three hundred years. Philippines and Filipino are alien words that hold no indigenous significance in any of the ethnic languages of the archipelago. They are names derived from Philip II, the 16th century Spanish king.

These non-native names, Philippines and Filipino, have for generations now been used to promote a new form of colonialism among the indigenous inhabitants of this archipelago (Martinez, 2004; DILA, 2007). By law, the term Filipino now stands for the nationality, citizenship and national language of all the ethnolinguistic groups within these islands (Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, 1987). Since then, all the indigenous languages and cultures of the various ethnolinguistic groups within the archipelago have been politically reduced to the status of mere “regional dialects”. They are now being sacrificed and pushed to the brink of extinction in the name of a contrived “national” unity. To be Filipino is to speak Filipino, which is actually just another form of the Tagalog language in a clever disguise. In reality, Filipino nationalism is just an alternative word for Manila-Tagalog Imperialism. National unity is a convenient excuse to a new form of non-violent ethnic cleansing (Mantawe, 1998; Avila, 2007; DILA, 2007 and Dacudao, pers. comm., 2012 April 13-15). How Tagalog became synonymous to Filipino is discussed in detail in the community website of the Save Our Languages Through Federalism Foundation, Inc. (SOLFED) and Defenders of the Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago (DILA), and in the book Filipino is NOT Our Language published by DILA in 2007.

Figure 1. The Kingdom of Luzon (呂宋國) as it appears on a Japanese map during the Ming dynasty (1368 to 1644). From “A look at history based on Ming dynasty maps” (從大明坤輿萬國圖看歷史) posted by zhaijia1987 in Baidu Tieba (百度贴吧) on 2010 November 11.

Long before the idea of a Filipino nation was even conceived, the Kapampangan, Butuanon, Tausug, Magindanau, Hiligaynon, Sugbuanon, Waray, Iloko, Sambal and many other ethnolinguistic groups within the archipelago, already existed as bangsâ or nations in their own right. Many of these nations formed their own states and principalities centuries before the Spaniards created the Philippines in the late 16th century. The oldest of these states include Butuan (蒲端) which existed on Chinese records as early as 1001 C.E., Sulu (蘇祿) in 1368 C.E. and the Kingdom of Luzon (呂宋国) in 1373 C.E. These three sovereign states were ruled by kings (國王) and not by chieftains according to Chinese historical records (Zhang, 1617; Scott 1984; Wang 1989; Wade, 2005 and Wang, 2008).

The Kapampangan nation was once a part of the Kingdom of Luzon [Fig. 1]. They were one of the Luçoes, ‘people of Luzon’, encountered by Portuguese explorers during their initial ventures into Southeast Asia in the early 16th century (Scott, 1994). The Kapampangan homeland, Indûng Kapampángan (Pampanga), became the first province carved out of the Kingdom of Luzon when the Spaniards conquered it in 1571 C.E. (Cavada, 1876 and Henson, 1965). Indûng Kapampángan’s political boundaries once encompassed a large portion of the central plains of Luzon, stretching from the eastern coastline of the Bataan Peninsula in the Southwest, all the way to Casiguran Bay in the Northeast (Murillo Velarde, 1744; San Antonio, 1744; Beyer, 1918; Henson, 1965; Larkin, 1972 and Tayag, 1985) [Fig 2.]. It was said to be the most populated region in Luzon at that time, with an established agricultural base that can support a huge population (Loarca, 1583; San Agustin, 1699; Mallat, 1846; B&R, 1905; Henson, 1965 and Larkin, 1972). It also has a highly advanced material culture where Chinese porcelain is used extensively and where firearms and bronze cannons were manufactured (Morga, 1609; Mas, 1843; B&R, 1905; Beyer, 1947; Larkin, 1972; Santiago, 1990b and Dizon, 1999). The old capital of the Kingdom of Luzon, Tondo (東都: “Eastern Capital”), once spoke one language with the rest of Indûng Kapampángan that is different from the language spoken in Manila (Loarca, 1583; B&R, 1905 and Tayag, 1985). Jose Villa Panganiban, the former commissioner of the Institute of National Language, once thought the Pasig River that divides Tondo and Manila to be the same dividing line between Kapampangan and Tagalog (Tayag, 1985). The descendants of the old rulers of the Kingdom of Luzon, namely those of Salalílâ, Lakandúlâ and Suliman, can still be found all over Indûng Kapampángan (Beyer, 1918; Beyer, 1943; Henson, 1965 and Santiago, 1990a).

If the Kapampangan nation made up the bulk of the population of the Kingdom of Luzon, then perhaps the oldest evidence of Kapampangan writing can be found in the jars (呂宋壺) exported to Japan prior to the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century C.E. [Fig. 3]. In his book Tokiko (陶器考) or “Investigations of Pottery” published in 1853 C.E., Tauchi Yonesaburo (田内米三郎) presents several jars marked with the ruson koku ji (呂宋國字) or the “writing of the Kingdom of Luzon” (Tauchi [田内], 1853 and Cole, 1912). The marks that looked like the Chinese character ting (丁) found in several Luzon jars might have been the indigenous Kapampangan script la (), the first syllable in the name “Luzon” [Fig. 4].

Writing has always been a testament to civilization among the great nations. The Chinese write ‘civilization’ as wénmíng (文明) or ‘enlightenment through writing’, combining the characters wén (文) ‘writing’ and míng (明) ‘brightness’. Sadly, the Kapampangan nation, a once proud civilization with a long established literature has now become a tribe of confused barbarians. Although many Kapampangans can read and write fluently in foreign languages, namely Filipino and English, they are strangely illiterate in their own native Kapampangan language.

Figure 4. A page in Faye-Cooper Cole’s English translation of Tauchi Yonesaburo’s Tokiko (陶器考) showing the ‘national writing of Luzon’ (呂宋國字) in comparison to Philippine scripts.

The Kapampangan language currently does not possess a standard written orthography. The dispute on which orthography to use when writing the Kapampangan language in the Latin Script ~ whether to retain the old Spanish style orthography a.k.a. Súlat Bacúlud or implement the indigenized Súlat Wáwâ which replaced the Q and C with the letter K, remains unsettled. This unending battle on orthography has taken its toll on the development of Kapampangan literature and the literacy of the Kapampangan speaking majority (Pangilinan, 2006a and 2009b). No written masterpiece that could rival the works of the Kapampangan literary giants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries has yet been written. The few poems that earned a number of contemporary poets the title of Poet Laureate no longer have the same impact that would immortalize them in the people’s collective memory. Worse, the Kapampangan language is now even showing signs of decay and endangerment (Del Corro, 2000 and Pangilinan, 2009b).

While the old literary elite continue to bicker endlessly which Latinized attitudinal procedure to follow, a small yet growing number of Kapampangan youth have become frustrated and disillusioned with the current state of Kapampangan language and culture. They see the old Spanish style orthography that still uses the letters C & Q as a perpetuation of Spain’s hold into the intellectual expressions of the Kapampangan people. The new orthography that has replaced the letters C and Q with K is also viewed to be foreign since they identify it with the Tagalog abakada. Instead of being forced to choose which orthography to use in writing Kapampangan, they chose to forego the use of the Latin script altogether. They decided instead to go back to writing in the indigenous Súlat Kapampángan or Kulitan.

Pámagdaráme is a form of Paráyâ (blood sacrifice) that Kapampangan young men are known to practice. Photo by Gino Manalastas.

At the start of planting season, Kapampangan farmers during my time used to practice the ritual of paráya (blood sacrifice) before their hoes touched the ground during the pámanaktak or clearing of the soil. A chicken is usually sacrificed, its blood dripping down to the earth in the hope that Indûng Tíbuan, the earth mother, will once again be fertile that year.

In the middle of the rice field where the paráya was performed, a dalungdung or a small wall-less hut made of ílib grass (Saccharum spontaneum) and bamboo is built. The dalungdung was a good place for us to play when we were kids since it was too small for an adult person to move about. It was just big enough for two people to sit on or one adult person to lie down on. I once asked an old farmer why they made the hut so small. Did they build it for us kids to play in? The old man replied that it was built for the banté or guardian. As a kid, I always thought that the banté was one lazy person because the dalungdung was always empty throughout the day everyday. When I pointed that out, I was whacked on the head by my older cousin for being rude. He reprimanded me with the harsh threat: Manúnû ka bugók (You will be punished by the núnû, you idiot). The banté or guardian of the rice field turned out to be the núnû or ancestral spirits. The dalungdung actually turns out to be a shrine to the ancestors.

After the pamamálut or rice harvest, the ritual of Lasak Dalungdung is practiced. Part of the first rice harvest is placed in the dalungdung. Bundled dried rice straws are heaped around the dalungdung and the whole thing is burned as a Dáun or offering to the núnû or ancestral spirits. A feast then follows.

Dáun is defined by Fray Diego Bergaño in his Vocabulario de la Lengua Pampanga en Romance as a noun which meant an offering, gift or oblation. Bergaño also gives the example Pamidáun métay or ‘offering to the dead’, who are of course, the núnû or ancestral spirits. Now Dáunhas become the Kapampangan word for the Catholic feast of All Saints Day celebrated annually every 1st of November. On that day, Kapampangan Catholics flock to the cemeteries to light candles and offer prayers in memory of the dead. It becomes a festive occasion that turns out to be a big family reunion. Relatives who have lived far away travel all the way to where their ancestors are buried and rekindle their blood ties to those who were left behind.

Sadly, the meaning of the word Dáunis lost to the majority of present day Kapampangan because it has been associated for centuries with the Catholic feast of All Saints Day. Plus, the word is now rarely used except among the older generation. Due to the dominance of Filipino (Tagalog) language and the influence of schools and the media, the word Dáun in reference to the Catholic feast of All Saints Day is slowly being replaced by the Tagalog word undas.

Letter of the Fiscal of the Audiencia of Filipinas, Licenciado Ayala, about the rebellion in Pampanga, dated 20 June 1585.

In the province of Pampanga which is ten to twelve leagues from this City (Manila), some Principales rose up in rebellion about the beginning of last April. One of them was named Don Juan de Manila and the other is Don Nicolas Managuete. Gathering a force of one hundred Indios, some voluntarily, others by force, they went to the next province of Candaba with fifty arquebuses, much gunpowder, and other arms. A chief of the Indios, some relative of Don Juan de Manila tried to restrain and contain their rebellion but they killed and robbed him of a great quantity of gold. From there they took a banca through the river where they met some bancas with almost forty Indios whom they all killed and stole their provisions and committed much harm and robbery. Your President dispatched later the Maese de Campo with thirty soldiers. God willed that the Indios with more than sixty arquebuses and armors were defeated and the two leaders were separated, each one going his way.

The forces under Don Nicolas Mananguete retreated to a place said to be an impregnable hill to reinforce. When the Maese de Campo had enough armed men, he tried to defeat Mananguete asking him to surrender but he answered that he would only do that if Your Highness pardoned him and that he was sorry for what he did. Besides Your Highness’ pardon, he asked that a friar, his father confessor, go there to assure his safety. To avoid anymore injuries, the Maese de Campo did exactly as he asked. Thus Mananguete with all his followers went with the friar to his Monastery. There he was taken prisoner with many other Indios.

Regarding Juan Manila, the Maese de Campo heard that he, with the other Indios Principales, retreated to another place to plan another attack. The Maese ordered a siege with other Indios of the land. The Maese got a dozen of them in the guise of travellers. They went to the hide out of Juan Manila who went out to meet them with his men and were shot as they fled. They were all killed without exception. With this incident, the land has been pacified, the rebellion crushed and the Indios intimidated.

From the library of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (東京外国語大学):

Licuanan, Virginia Benitez & Mira, Jose Llavador. (1993). The Philippines Under Spain: A Compilation and Translation of Original Documents. Book IV (1583-1590): 253-254. Quezon City, Philippines: The National Trust for Historical and Cultural Preservation of the Philippines.

1586Letter in behalf of Don Juan de Manila, Principal from Pampanga, to the President of the Royal Audiencia exposing the many cruelties the Castilas commit.

Señor Presidente:

I would have appeared before you, the Castilas, a long time ago had it not been for [manuscript torn] that you might not wish to listen to the unburdening of the many complaints I have against you Castilas. I am from Pampanga, and from the first time you came here, I have known you Castilas to be arrogant and haughty. Even the seamen who come among us commit cruelties. They seize rice, pigs and everything else, unreasonably. And if we beg them not to, they take us with them to Manila, they beat us up and worse they insult us. They pay nothing for what they take from us. And as if this were not enough, they take our women and send us to look for women, to ravish them and if we do not find them, they insult us or beat us up, calling us sodomites, drunkards and other such painful names. We work incessantly and are not allowed to rest; if we ask them for wages they do not mind us, and even if we lose our property, their order for collection of tributes must be followed. Even from the aged who can hardly move, the lame and those who have migrated to other towns, and even the dead, from all these tributes are collected. If we ask for exemption, we are called thieves and we are arrested and tortured until the tributes are paid. Thus, the gold of the Principales is consumed for [manuscript torn] because you do not mete out justice. You, yourselves do not maintain justice. I say what my children say when they talk that the Castilas continue with their ways and do their will for they are unaware that their misdeeds are the reason why the Principales do not go to ask for justice. They would rather rise in arms and see all their property go. And do not think Capitan, that I alone feel this way for everyone else feels the same way and if they have not yet followed my footsteps, they are waiting for a chance.

My Lord, if you do not remedy the situation and continue to disregard the deeds of those degenerate people who continue collecting tribute, this land will soon be ruined. If you do not believe this, have a Visitador observe how the tributes are collected, how this degenerate people and other Castilas go on tormenting and punishing beyond reason, without accepting explanations nor excuses. When a Principal asks for justice against a lowly slave, the slave swearing in his favour is believed; but if a Principal swears, even if he swears the truth, he is not believed. When your Lordship came from Mexico to Manila, I was there; and when the decrees of the King were being read, I was present and listened to them and understood a good portion of them. What the decrees provided for and ordered have not been carried out. If only I could talk to you I would tell you many wrong doings of the Spaniards and if I were put on the witness stand without being punished, I could tell you more. I have suffered for a long time, carrying this weight in my heart. I have awaited the Royal Audiencia and I was very glad when you arrived. But in Manila, I had a litigation concerning a slave. Before he came to my possession I had already spent a good some of money, what with the notary and the lawyer and the jailer’s fees for a slave worth only 29 tostones. This incident saddened me and I said to myself: the conditions of the Castilas have not changed. I found out that since the arrival of the Spaniards I have used up 200 taels of gold solely on documents. It is better for me to die than to be like this, not advancing and not knowing what we are and what our nation is after having experienced justice among us. Those who have gone away and those who have come, they say are subjected to Residencias and in imposing them they say that whatever has been ill-spent and taken unjustly should be returned but after having our their decisions nothing is returned because they fool us being such new Christians.

Thus, Señor Presidente, remember what justice is and though I have my share of faults and sins but for many times too should I be forgiven. Thus, Señor Presidente, when we hold in our possession the decree of pardon of the Royal Audiencia, we shall present ourselves before you. Otherwise we shall not show ourselves to you. Besides losing so many of us , you will be a collaborator in the sins that I may commit against God if you do not pardon me.

(Signed) Don Juan de Manila, Principal from Pampanga

[Editors Note: Don Juan de Manila headed a revolt with Don Nicolas Mananguete in Candaba, Pampanga for which he was executed.]

Filipinas
Legajo 84
Cat. 3386

Note: In the following year, 1587, the noble houses of Tondo, led by the sons of the Lakandúlâ, including the ruler of Candába, Don Dionisio Capulong, staged a revolt against a Spaniards.

The letter of Don Juan de Manila was lifted entirely from:

Licuanan, Virginia Benitez & Mira, Jose Llavador. (1993). The Philippines Under Spain: A Compilation and Translation of Original Documents. Book IV (1583-1590): 243-244. Quezon City, Philippines: The National Trust for Historical and Cultural Preservation of the Philippines.

For generations, Tagalog historians have used this photo from the 1590 Boxer Codex to teach Filipino students how the early Tagalogs looked like. But comparing the two pictures together, one can clearly see that the other one has been tampered with. “Tagalos” scribbled next to the word “Naturales” (Native) is a recent insertion. Someone has been trying too hard to connect the NATURALES de LUZON (Natives of Luzon; 呂宋國人) to the Tagalogs, when a lot of evidences points out that the Luçoes (Luzones) may have been Kapampangans rather than Tagalogs.

The teaching of Philippine History remains Manila-centric and Philippine History textbooks are still written in the point of view of Tagalog historians.